This version is actually a re-build of the previous http://www.jazzinbelgium.org site which was launched in 1996 and eversince passionately maintained by Ilan Oz and Michel Herr. The very rich content of the site has been restructured so as to comply more precisely to the modern concept of an online encyclopedia, and numerous new features have been introduced.

Following the long Jazz Valley period in my life (http://www.jazzvalley.com) which ended a year ago, the release of Jazz In Belgium represents a major achievement to me, as the whole experience cumulated over those years finally seems to serve a new and really useful cultural product.

Owing to the financing from Lundis d'Hortense (the Belgian Association of Jazz Musicians), the development of the software for this website has been organized in comfortable conditions, which made it possible to devote it the time needed to ensure the excellent quality of the software components that run the website.

Eight years ago, a passionate fan of jazz, of theater, of media and new communication methods, I had a dream to create a new media which would trace whatever is going on in jazz worldwide on a daily basis. Such a media would respond to routine requests of highly demanding jazz professionals, but also appeal to the general public owing to an entertaining presentation.

Jazz Valley was the first stone of that building. Afetr Jazz Valley closed last year, the launch of Jazz In Belgium is a new and important step towards the accomplishment of my original ambition.

So here comes http://www.jazzinbelgium.com -
a brand-new website, thouroughly designed and meticulously structured. Very light, compact, practical, exhaustive... and useful, very useful.

I would like to thank everyone who made this collaboration efficient and pleasant :

Manu HermiaThe Chairman of Lundis d'Hortense at the moment when the contract was signed

Ilan Oz, Michel HerrThe founders and the tireless pilots of the Jazz In Belgium project since the very start

Laurent Poncin, Katy SaudmontThe engines of Lundis d'Hortense

Jean-Louis RassinfosseThe current chairman of Lundis d'Hortense

Renaud JansonThe ISP of Jazz In Belgium

The last but not least. Since Jazz Valley disappeared, the Belgians can be proud to be the first country to have their own national jazz portal, or at least that exhaustive, reliable and accurate. There was a strict minimum of public financing, and the rest was the skills and the passion of the project's team members - and as a result there is a product of an exceptional quality on-line, and this time it is stable and will live a long life.

I would like this project to grow to a European scale and to set new objectives again, such as:

Cover the jazz events in the whole Europe, country by country, in several languages

Help jazz clubs and musicians keep their presentation and events schedule updated on a centralized website

Rebuild a logistic network for the distribution of independent production

Launch online jazz radios, configurable by style and allowing to link the songs directly to the records they were extracted from

And yet more and more great ideas... with the only objective of promoting jazz music as widely as possible, using all the means at our disposal.

Hence, I would like to appeal to all the people who have the talent and the contacts needed to find the financing for this project in France and in other countries of Europe (and the needs are very modest, by the way).

In the meantime, I congratulate once again Lundis d'Hortense and the whole Belgium, as in their case the project has already become reality.